Photographic film drier



Nov. 22, 1932 r A. W. BUCK PHOTOGRAPHIC FUJI DRIER ilk I I'm-'22, 1932. 8 v PHOTOGRAPHIC Mubarak Filed Ndv. 29, 1930 s Silesia-Sheet 2 I PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM DRIER Filed 30v. 29, 1930 3 Sheets-Street 3 .....V. In;

Patented Nov. 22, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- ARTHUR Wa BUCK, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO BUCK x-oemn COMPANY,

03 8'1. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI PHOTOGRAPHIG FILM DRIER fi inlicnrion fled; Mcvcmber 29, 19300 Serial He. 499,688.

. wide cLrer com nns for snipers ioiogrepiiic films L being provided with may positiveiy drown hid provide means Where heated prior to i Q efl 'mrged I n I. e or some opening lino snoiher sci; doors open 1 T1 n s room or We the rigs connection is i u for preventing sire doors tr e into the dark room from he i when the doors of the casing opene iigiifzed room have been opened. verse to inns prevent any possibility iii enoering the dork room through A door or doors of the drier casing in this connection to provide iatching de= es en opposite sides of the casing which snot be shifted to release e door or doors on this side of the casing unless a Rocking pin 40 which extends entirely through the casing has oeen shifted inward into a position to obstruct the reiense of the latch on the other side of the door. I

A further object is to so support the film 45 carriers or racks within the casing that; they may be easily shifted outward in either direction, either into the lighted room or into the dark room, depending upon which door is opened to permit the insertion and removal of 50 the films and to permit the ready removal of one iiim which is necesssiq to be exsrm h this construction, it is nos necessary" that doctor, in order to see as soon as los=- sioie sn Xn'ny fiiin, should go into the nrir I 1 .r" s room, gem she niin out, identify it, teen carry it into the iighted room for observahe can withdraw the film immedieieiy from the rack into n lighted room Where can resdiiy identify the iiirn resdiiy remove it for oiaser'vniion WifiOLii? in an we or interfering the wor he done in the room. of: ihe objects of my invension pro licie r, 5 which in @then objects will op foiioizving descriptioi Won is iiinstn in time drawings, wherein r 1 is eievsiion of a Q is LJLL strucsed In accordance "with 1 enrion;

W q n b is o pinn View or fine niin 1 er showing the w in section;

Fig e veriicsi section fi'iin n inn o in *i nniicnily, the inn racks sing; in eierniion;

is an enlarged sectional on n vcrticsi plane iziirougn ilie undies;

Figure 5 is an enierged irsgmeniary see iion from fro-mi; to rear on the line 5-5 of Figure 33.;

Figure is c section on Figure 5.; I

Figure "Z is n perspective View of the rack and one of she siides;

a. sa inroogii p i the iine 6-6 of Figure 8 is an enlarged vertical section through a track for supporting the slide through the slide and through a, portion of the film supporting rack;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical section through one end of the fiim supporting rack Figure 10 is a. diagram of the wiring and switches whereby the fan and heater are connected or disconnected from a source of energy.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates generally a metallic casing of any suitable construction open at opposite ends and fitted u perms time to ing 13 within which the casing is located This wall plate 12 is overlapped by a wing plate 14 which overlaps the angle iron 12. hese parts may be connected together in any suitable manner and engaged with the wall 7 in any suitable manner.

Of course, I do not wish to be limited to this method of mounting the drier in place in the wall. The drier is supported on two legs 15 or in any other suitable manner. Enclosed within the drier at one end thereof, is an electrical heating element 16 of any suitable character and controlled by a heater switch 17. Disposed on the opposite end of the casing is a fan 18 o erated by any suitable electric motor, this an being controlled by a fan switch 19 mounted above the heater switch 17 for convenience. By this means, either the heating element is turned on and the fan also turned on-or the fan turned on and the heating element left inoperative or both out off. As a matter of actual practice, the heating element is never turned on without the fan being turned on, but it is often desirable to cause a current of cooled air instead of a current of heated air to pass through. the drier in order to dry the films, and in that case, of course, the heating element is not turned on.

In order to prevent-the admission of light to the open ends of the casing 10, I provide at opposite ends of thecasing a light locked ventilator consisting of a plurality of horizontally disposed corrugated bafiie plates 20 as illustrated in Figure 4 which may be held together in any suitable manner as for instance by the vertical bolts 21. These bafile plates are disposed at the fan end of the drier between the interior of the drier casing and the fan. The end of the drier casing immediately adjacent the fan is formed with an opening 22 and from this opening preferably a duct 23 leads and this duct may discharge either into the room itself or preferably exteriorly of the room so that the moist air drawn from the interior of the drier casing will not be caused to circulate therethrough again.

I do not wish to be limited to the use of baflle plates between the fan and the interior of the casing as where a duct 23 is used, this may be so formed as to entirely block any entrance of light.

The casing is divided into a number of compartments by partitions 24 extending downward a short distance from the top of the casing and the front and the rear of the casing are provided with metallic doors 25 which are hinged to the outer and inner walls of the casing and which when open give access to the interior of any one compartment. Each compartment is, therefore, open at its front and rear but each compartment is normally closed at its front and rear by the doors 25. Each compartment is large enough for the support of maximum sized films. Each compartment has slidingly mounted therein a carriage or rack carrying a-plurality of rods having clips engagingthe films so that the films are hung from these racks in the several compartments. Each rack is approximately rectangular in plan view and formed with the end walls 26 and the side walls 27. The end and side walls define, therefore, a rectangular opening. The top edges of the side walls are formed with transversely extending grooves 28 for the reception of rods 29 having clips of any suitable character by which the films are supported on the rack. These rods and films, of course, are readily removable from the rack. The front wall 26 is formed to provide a medially disposed handle 30 and oneach side of this handle, the front and rear walls are extended downward as at 31. The lower ends of the front and rear walls are connected by longitudinally extending angle irons 32 the horizontal flanges of which are notched or out out at 33 so that a depending film has its lateral edges disposed within the notches 33 and thus the films are kept from coming in contact with each other which, of course, would otherwise ruin the films, these notches 33, being disposed immediately beneath notches 28. For slidingly supporting the racks, I mount on the side walls 27 of each rack the forward and rear pairs of anti-friction rollers 34. Mounted on walls 24 are the opposed U-shaped track members and slidingly mounted between the rollers 34 are the sliding strips 36 whose upper and lower margins are bent over at 37 to constitute curved flanges embracing the tracks 35 as shown in Figure 8. The slides 36 slide on tracks 35 and rollers 37 roll on these slides 36. The extremities of slides 36 are upwardly bent at 38 to act as stops for rollers 34 to prevent the racks from being drawn off the slides and the slides in turn are provided with stops 38 which limit their motion relative to tracks 35. The racks may be easily withdrawn entirely from the compartments to permit the removal of films and they may be easily slid back into lace each within its compartment. Anti frict1on balls 39 may be mounted on tracks 35 and engage slides 36. Inasmuch as the slide mechanism whereby the racks are supported is common and well-known and many different forms may be used, I do not believe that'any further description of the slide mechanism is necessary.

For the purpose of preventing the opening of the doors upon one side of the drier,

ever, the locking handle is turned to a position of alinement with the rail 24a, it will release these doors 25 and permit the doors to open. Preferahiy the doors are provided with WQEY pistes With which the locking iiel "o, so as to reposihaiio F tarot is a this more the doors so tion c1 are cioseci, th tnrnec i to its door q t w hoisting posit i anpies to toe ran locking rod, Thus it is impossible for the side to he opened unless the other side are ciosed. This inlet of light from the light doors on one doors on the prevents any room to the dark room. As illustrated, the

handle 40 is preferably mounted upon a plate 45 attached to the rail 24". Obviously, I do, not wish to be limited to the details of construction as these might be modified in many ways.

A drier of the character described, provides for. the drying of large quantities of photographic films by the passage of warmed air over the films or the passage of cool air if desired. It rovides for the entire removal of the air rom the room in which the films are being dried if desired, thus very greatly expediting the drying of the films. It is obvious that means may he pro vided whereby the heat Within the drier may be increased decreased according circumstances and accordin the humidity the air. No such rresns is shown, however, as such is oh is m its construction entire necessity of doctors, nurses or others the dark room the purpose of 1* films and carrying them oi Thefiims in. their cassettes ore iT-ffiiigiiij 'ito the dark room, the cassettes are opened,

" .s deveioped here the dark room, sorting so placed in e doors Whi e}:

doc s 13.

a red- 1 L As to core stated, there are 1" upon opposite V E :f CQDZITQL rent the fan lihese switches such character that the fan c Without affecting he the heating element can Without energizing the i not turned on when, the heatin turned on, the films Wouid he exposed to great heat and would. The Wiring switches are illustrated diag ammatically in Figure 10. The two switches 19 govern the action of the fan and the two switches 17 govern the action of the heater.

In this diagram the heating element is designated 16' and the fan 18. The switches i turned on 'iernent hot mod on element was 17-and 19 are three-way switches, one switch 19 being connected by a conductor 46 to 1 one terminal of the usual socket member 47 whereby the machine may be connected up with a source of power. The switch arm of the other three-way switch 19 on the opposite side of the machine is connected by a conductor 48 to the fan 18 and from this fan a return wire 49 leads. It will thus be obvious that the fan 48 may be turned on from either side of the machine. From the threeway switch a wire 50 leads to one of the threeway switches 17 and from the other threeway switch a wire 51 leads to the bus-bar of the electrical heating element 16. From the bus-bar a return wire 52 leads to the return terminal of the member 47. From this diagram, it will be obvious that the fan can be turned on from either side, but that if the switches 17 are thrown to an off position, the circuit to the heater is broken, but that if it is desired to operate the heater in conjunction with the fan, either one of the switches 17 may be turned to its on position, but in no case can the heater be operated without operating the fan.

This I regard as a very important feature of my invention as it prevents .any chance of melting or softening the films through the heater being energized without the fan being operated to draw off the hot air.

I claim 1. A film drier comprising a casing closed at its top, bottom and sides but open at its opposite ends and having a door opening on one side'of the casing and provided with a door, means at opposite ends of the casing for preventing the passage of light but permitting the passage of air, air heating means disposedin one end of the casin a fan withdrawing air from the; other en of the casing, and a rack slidingly mounted within the casing and withdrawable through said door opening.

2. A film drier of the character described,

including a casing closed at its top, bottom,

and sides but open at opposite ends and having means for preventing the entry of light into the interior of the casing, but permitting the passage of air, the casing having a door, a rack mounted in the casing for movement transverse to the length thereof, means for supporting a plurality of films on the rack in dependent position, the sides of the casing having opposed doors and the rack being withdrawable from the casing in either direction through the openings normally closed by said doors.

3. A film drier of the character described,

including a casing closed at its top,-bott0m and sides but open at opposite ends and having meansat its ends for preventing the entrance of light, but permitting the passage of air longitudinally through the casing, the casing having opposed openings and doors normallyclosingsaidopenings,atrackwaymounted in the upper portion of the casin and extending transversely thereof, and a m rack slidingly mounted on the trackway for movement transverse to the length of the casing, the rack being withdrawable from the casing through the door openings in either direction, the rack having means for supporting a plurality of films thereon in dependent position and means for causing the circulation of air longitudinally through said casing.

4. A film drier of the character'described, including a casing closed at its top, bottom and sides but open at its ends and having opposed door openings, doors closing said openings, means for preventing the entry of lightto the casing, but permitting the passage of air longitudinally therethrough, means for causing ,air to traverse the casin from end to end a film supporting rac mounted in the casing for movement transverse to the length thereof, and withdrawable through either of the door openings, and means for preventing the doors on both sides of the casing from being opened simultaneously.

5. A film drier of the character described including a casing closed at its top, bottom and sides but open at its opposite ends, the casing having opposed openings in its sides, means at opposite ends for preventing the inlet of light to the interior of the casing, but permitting the passage of air, doors at opposite sides of the casing, coacting with said openings parallel tracks attached to the easing adjacent the top thereof and extending. from front to rear thereof, slides slidably mounted on said tracks, and film supporting racks slidably mounted on the slides.

6. A film drier of the character described, including a casing closed at its top, bottom and sides but open at its opposite ends, the sides of the casing having door openings means at opposite ends of the casing for preventing the inlet of light to the interior of the casing, but permitting the passage of air, means for causing the circulation of air longitudinally of the casing, doors at opposite sides of the casing and coacting with said openings, parallel tracks attached to the casing adjacent the top thereof and extending from front to rear thereof and coincident with said openings, slides slidably mounted on said tracks, and anti-friction ele-' ments carried by the rack and engaging above and below the slides and having limited movement relative to the slides whereby said racks may be withdrawn from within the casing in either direction.

7. A film drier of the character described, including a casing closed at its top, bottom and sides but open at opposite ends and having means at its ends for preventing the en- 1 try of light to the interior of the casing, but permitting the passage of air therethrough,

means for causing the circulation of air longitudinally of the casing, doors in opposite sides of the casing, a pair of parallel tracks disposed between each front and rear door, the tracks being mounted upon the casing, slides slidably mounted on said tracks, a film rack mounted between each pair of slides and having sliding engagement therewith, each rack having transverse grooves upon its upper face extending parallel to the side walls of the casing for the reception of film supporting rods, each rack having inwardly extending flan es having notches within which the several lms engage to hold the films in spaced relation to each other and parallel to the side walls of the casing.

8. A film drier comprising a casing open at its opposite ends, means at opposite ends for preventing the inlet of light, but permitting the passage of air, electrically energized air heating means disposed in one end of the casing, and an electrically o erated exhaust fan withdrawing air from the opposite end of the casing, three-way switches disposed on opposite sides of the casing whereby the fan may be connected. to a source of current, oppositely disposed three-way switches, one having its switch member connected in circui't with the heating element and the other having its switch member connected to one of the first named switch members whereby the heating element may be connected in circuit with the tan from either side at the easing.

9. A film drier including a casing and the casing being closed at its top, bottom and sides but being open at its opposite ends and having means at its opposite ends for permitting the passage of air but preventing the passage of light, the casing having opposed door openings in its sides and doors coacting therewith, the doors on one side of the casing I being adapted to open into a dark room and on the other side of the casing being designed to open into a light room, racks mounted in the casing for transverse sliding movement and disposed in coactive relation to the door openings and withdrawable through either of the opposed door openings, the racks being formed to support a plurality of films within the drier with the films disposed parallel to the sides walls of the casing, means for causing the circulation of air longitudinally through the casing, and means for preventing the simultaneous opening of both doors at the same time.

lln testimony whereof I hereunto afix my signatureo ARTHUR W BUCK, 

